GPT01 (Cerro Purgatorio)
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* Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias
Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.
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Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions
Season 2025/26
Season 2024/25
Season 2023/24
- 2023-Dec-15-18 / 72 hours / Hiking / nobo / Option 04, ridge, option 02 / Tomáš
Apart from Option 02, I did not actually follow any existing GPT track but I this should be added for 2024/25, Jan said it looks excellent. I think the approcah will be called option 4. I started at the southernmost stop of bus MB-74. The bus actually goes to several streets there and back before reaching here, so do not get off too early. You should be able to start from here: 33.7277389S, 70.5544877W. Just before the bridge, there is a locked gate. Some cars were passing though and let me through, just told me not to make fire. If the gate is locked use the bridge 200 m downstream and go in the riverbank for 200 northwards - it is dry. There is another gate where the sideroad splits from the road that is still on OSM, roughly here: 33.7412080S, 70.5586867W. Again somobody opened it for me but this one could have been climbed easily.
The trail is both easily visible on satelite and Strava heatmap. First 2 km it is a road, then a worse road that transofrms to path branches to the left to rejoin the road where another gate is - this cca 5 km part is flat. One then follows the fence on a steep slope until 100 m higher one rejoins very clear path. I am sure there is a better way than I took but it was still easy enough. From there a very clear trail goes all the way up to cca Cerro los Crystalles. Met a group of seven people on motorbikes who went up and down in a day. No water until about 2500 m. On Facebook group, I put pictures of the route, the GPX track need to wait until spring.
From the ridge, one could easily follow on GPT02 but I was interested in the ridge between RR and Option 3 roughly from here: 33.8464060S, 70.4211017W to Cerro los Purgatorio through Cerros Loma del Diablo, San Roque and Cruzada Las Hormigas. From the coordinates above, there is a trail that follows the ridge for a few km. Once it starts going down I traversed back to the ridge. Better would have been to go over the hill than traversing. The ridge can be followed, there is a psth that comes and go so it is a mix of TR and CC. Going down from San Roque is a bit tricky, one needs to sidetrack from the ridge at one point and maybe use a hand here and there. Another a bit challenging part is just before the final ascent to Cruzada Las Hormingas. It is abit exposed in those parts but not to much. In SAC scale, somewhere around 4 or five, but out of 20 km of the ridge, this is only about 1 km m at most. And I do not claim to have found the best route, I think some of the clambering parts that were never vertical could probably have been sidetracked.
This time of the year, even on the ridge I crossed a stream with water three times (I will add the streams to OSM later), very roughly at km 11, 17 and 20 (this one being on the RR). Only saw cows and condors.
I then crossed the RR and went on option 02. I would say it is SAC 4 (somewhat easier than the ridge), I used hands but it was very easy and not exposed at all. Descent from Cerro Purgatorio was surprisingly beautiful with all the flowers (which were there all over the ridge too). Even going down, from about 1500, the heat was really strong. Would not recommend any of this from early January till end of february given there might be very little water. Perfect for December and earlier. I hope both the ascent and the ridgewalk are added to GPT. Every day, I would be abel to get enough cell phone coverage to receive e-mails and chats but not much more.
- 2023-Dec-06 / 1 day / Hiking / sobo / RR / Lilian
I took uber from Providencia to the gate, about 20000CLP and 1hour.
The gate is locked at 10am on Wednesday. Luckily after 5min a young man drive out and open the gate, he didn't said anything and let me go inside. Hot but more water resources that i think before, a small grassy stream is still flowing just before the pass 800m, lot of tadpoles swimming inside too.
Long way going down with rocky dirt road, didn't see any people all the way to the end. After you join the trail in valley, lot of camping spots you can find.
- 2023-Nov-17 to 2023-Nov-19 / 1,5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR & OH / Jens
In Melocoton I had to cross private property. The guy charged me 2000 pesos. Lots of water and camping south of Cerro Purgatorio. There is an alternative route that's marked with white paint that is also marked in the OSM data.
I started NOBO from El Melocoton. I took the exploratory route to Cerro Purgatorio. I have to report that there is no path to the summit from the south. The data and the OSM suggest that there is a path, but I only found rocks that I had to climb over and steep drops. I had to slide down to join the other trail as it was too dangerous to continue.
The northern route to the summit is fine. But you'd have to go back the same way to rejoin the main PGT route.
Comment Jan Dudeck: I removed the southern ascent to the summit of Cerro Purgatorio. Now only the the ascent from the west remains in the track files.
- 2023-Nov-11 to 2023-Nov-12 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Yannick & Nolwenn
- Gates : all were open, it was a Saturday
- Water : all the water markers were correct, even more water present
- Camping spot : km 29,4
- Weather : cold and cloudy so not a problem for the first big ascent - there is an exceptional cold weather on the Santiago area this year
- River crossing : 31,65 km (easy)
- Overall : trail in good condition.Lots of stray dogs on the trail but really friendly.We combined section 1 & 2.
If you want to see some pictures of the sections and/or ask us some questions, you can find us on Instagram : @2funambules
Season 2022/23
- 2023-Feb-19 to 2023-Feb-20 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Luisa & Hannes
Started in Ramon Supercaseaux 8200 directly at the gate. Pretty hot below 2000m, siesta highly recommended. A lot of bees around everywhere except pass-area. No water in the first spot after the pass, you'll find it about 1-2 kms ahead. A local said that water was cut up there. Weekend with many tourists in Estero El Sauce Valley. Good Kiosk at the valley entrance. Took us 2 days.
- 2022-Dec-04 / Hiking / SOBO / Option 1: Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo / Tomáš
I really wanted to try the option through Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo. I took the bus MB-74 to Pirque. The last stop is here: 33.7290444S, 70.5371567W. There was a sign saying it is prohibited to enter, but some people told me I can pass. From there one can walk along the airport. Once you get to the main road, there is a locked gate, but the fence can be crawled under. I would recommend to take the standard route for cars, the walk was schorching. It was Sunday, I am not sure the other bus lines were in service. I have not seen them, MB74 seemed to be going once every twenty minutes or so for 900 pesos.
Once on the standard route, I hitched a car going to the reserve, we put my backpack into the trunk, so the CONAF guards did not notice me at all and did not tell me anything. I had a reservation made online, there is a day limit of visitors. It cost 11500 pesos.
Once in the reserve, I took the trail going west of the stream (so the stream was on my left hand going uphill). Nobody noticed me and then I have not met anybody for 4 days. The trail is fairly clear, one goes up along a stream up until around 1900 metres (up to the last recommended camp). From then on until the nextother side of the mountain, there is no reliable water (I slept near a marsh around 2650m, but the water would not have been great).
The route is quite attractive. Walking in the lower valley in the heat is really sweat inducing. It took me 1,5 days to go up to the border of the reserve, I was weak from not much sleep before and the heat. But also it is quite far and I have not started walking until six or so on the first day as I rested quite a few hours waiting for te heat to pass.
- 2022-Nov-24 to 2022-Nov-26 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + GPT01-F / Martin & Helena
We started the first section from the metro station at Puento Alto, which is also a good place to buy some missing supplies and water - mall with Lider shop is right next to the main square. The gate 1 at approx. km 12 opened after less than 15mins and some guy in a car let us in after explaining that we just want to pass and showing the map. The other gate not so far away from the entrance was opened. Following the main route, we spent the night in a nice camp place at km 19.5 with water available just few hundred meters before that (bridge, water 18.7). Keep in mind to carry enough water on the way to the pass! We met the next day 2 families at the bridge, water 29.7 that went there for camping. We decided to finish the section the next day, which was Staturday, and therefore as we were coming closer to the village we met a lot of day hikers at the GPT01-F. Before continuing to the section 2, we stopped to refresh ourselves at Kiosko Los Acacios, on the left side after the bridge on the main road (the other kiosk before the river was closed at the time). They have fried empanadas, amazing natural strawberry juice (jugo frutilla), yogurt with granola and some other small things, everything with reasonable prices.
Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka
- 2022-Nov-09 / Hiking / SOBO / Adrien Kunzli
Start at the reserva natural de clarillo impossible even if i arrived at 8h30 am. No arrangement possible with the guard. I went by waking through the wasteland (many dogs be carefull but a good stone in the hand frightens them without worries) but Start at GPT01-B impossible : Big Electronic portal and no luck with cars. Start at GPT 01-03 by the optional tracks ok. After the school you take the left road and almost immediately you have to pass under a fence on the left with a little hole. Just after San José de Maipo the RR-MR-V (02) (3,6+0,4) at S33°41.069', W070°20.876' was denied to me by some conductors (private propriety). But te other optional road without passing the bridge works perfectly fine.
- 2022-Okt-31 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Yannic & Mirjam
We traveled by metro to Puento Alto. Because the bus MB73 did not come (probably because of holiday) we took an Uber to Posta la Puntilla (much cheaper than to Puntilla Rural). Gate 1 closed, after waiting 2 minutes a car came. Gate 2 open on the right side. Water available at all marked spots. Nice campground with small swimming pool at the back of the small river at Camp 01 [4/29/1415]. Several campsites on the river around El Melocoton.
Season 2021/22
- 2021 Nov-19 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Kris&Stiina
We wanted to avoid the boring through-town and road walking so we took the micro-bus from Puente Alto to Puntilla Rural which only left us 2km of road walking. It’s a micro-bus MB73 and it goes right on the same street when you come out of the subway. It doesn’t have a stop so you just have to wave it down when you see it coming, ticket costs 750 pesos. After those 2km on the asphalt road we turned off to a minor road with an impassable gate which is normally closed, but luckily we only waited less than 10 min. and a car came and we just walked in, they didn’t ask us anything so it seemed alright. 2nd gate was open. Water sources were flowing well. Climb was brutal, super steep and very, very hot. We imagine this section could easily be walked a month earlier to avoid the baking in the furnace. Great views from the “Pass”. We camped at the “Bridge, Water” waypoint after the pass, nice place, but unfortunately we had lots of tiny, very hungry biting flies there. We saw a lot of campers in the valley before El Melocotón, which was a bit of a surprise, more than 20 tents, perhaps people enjoying nature on the weekend? We didn’t go in to El Melocotón but continued straight to GPT02.
For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures
- 2021-Nov-09 to 2021-Nov-10 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Marc Anthony
Started afternoon on first day and arrived in melocotón same time next day. Took a taxi from Puento Alto metro station to the Plaza in Pirque, because I was advised against walking alone through Puente Alto by the locals. Quite a lot of mini shops with empenadas and other food when following the paved road from Pirque. When turning from the paved road onto the first minor road I encountered a big locked gate, which luckily opened because cars were driving through from the other side. After a couple of kilometers another locked gate appears but i walked around the right side and found a smaller open gate that I passed through. When the terrain starts getting steeper, I found it very hot to walk here during the afternoon. Definitely wouldn’t want to walk there in the middle of the day during summer. Also the section right before the mountain pass is very steep. Best to walk here during the morning when you’ll have the shadow of the mountain. Rest of the way was generally easy enough, carried plenty of water with me.
Found a place called Posada Del Jinete in southern part of El Melocotón with Cabañas for 80.000 and hostal room with to beds for 40.000. Not the cheapest but didn’t find a lot of options nearby. The father and son who are running the place are nice people who can tell a lot about the area. Small tienda/café down the road from hostal with only basic supplies
Started this section on November 9th. The gate at -33 36.774’ -070 30.027’ is locked. Didn’t find anybody around to ask, but it magically opened up behind me just as I was about to leave, because cars were coming through from the other side. Did see a couple more cars going the same direction as I walked on the minor road. Might be worth waiting around for some time to see if anyone will drive through?
Found water in all expected places. Would recommend carrying a good amount with you on your way up onto the mountain pass, since this a very hot and steep section especially in the afternoon and it will be awhile before the next water source.
Season 2020/21
- 2020-Nov-14 / 1 day / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ricardo Gold
We tried both entrances to the gravel road. Both closed with big gates (RR @KM13). We did an alternative start from Pirque that it did work, but is a significant longer (but nice). I would suggest to review this segment as the two main entrances seems closed for good.
After you get into the road is very straight forward, very easy to navigate. There is water in all expected points and I think they will last long into the summer. Indeed, it is very exposed, it will be hard to do in a sunny day, as it will be hot. Alternatively you can start really early or even do it partially at night as it is easy to navigate and not dangerous at all.
The climb is pretty steep for a maintenance road. it is +20% for ~4km, so I suggest to tackle this section really early in the morning. There is a good water source just before starting and probably also a good camping ground.
Next water source is ~14km after, but with also ~1000m of uphill, so be mindful of the time to get into there. Btw, this water source has a small cascate and pond that is great to jump in and refresh. Just walk ~10m into the upstream.
Season 2019/20
- 2020-Jan-03 to 2020-Jan-04 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Frank
See transport section if you want to skip the first 13KM roadwalk. Midsummer is not the ideal time for GPT01 as it is very hot, there is little shade & not much water. If you do walk there are several small shops on the road up to KM13.
It was difficult to access the start. At KM 16.5 on the road, RR-PR-V@01-6.9+4.3 & 700 metres further after the bridge, route sealed by two 15 foot high gates with spikes on top. No one there to ask to open them. Back on RR @ KM13, 2 locked gates. At OH-MR-V@01-A-#002 a resident let me through the locked gate. There is a new fence a little up the road that will probably close off this variant (I got in through a small unfinished section). It is very dry now so RR gates may be closed due to lack of water & fire risk. The only water on RR until 14KM after the pass is on section RR-MR-V@01-16.3+7.8 marked Bridge, Water on GPX, making a camp @ the site 15 mins. walk above (marked Camp No Water) highly advisable. Look for the gas pipeline, route follows it most of the way. Kiosk with drinks & snacks & campsite on the route 3KM before Melocoton are open all week in midsummer, weekends only in low season. No need to go to Melocoton. Get bus to Santiago @ road junction 500 metres down the road after bridge over Rio Maipo
- 2019-Dec-13 to 2019-Dec-17 / 5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / GPT01 Option 1 and GPT02 / Ian Hikes
Overview: I decided to combine GPT 01 and 02 using the alternative route through Rio Clarillo National Reserve which is something I do recommend. You do have to pay $5.000 to enter the park. You then follow the river up to the pass where it joins the official route. The two sections are very open and exposed with wide open views across the mountains and high mountain passes.
Difficulties: My biggest difficult in this section was the lack of water. There were many sections that were dry and, on many occasions, found me going 15-20km with water. I would suggest taking extra care planning out water resupply along the route. I usually took 2-4L of water at any given time in these two sections. Also this section is very remote and did not see anyone for 3 days.
Highlights: High mountain passes and great open views (especially for sunrise and sunset)
- 2019-Nov-27 / Hiking / SOBO / Family Size
Locked gate with barbed wire (S 33° 36.795', W 070° 30.049') on the official route. Found someone at the gate up the road (S 33° 36.702', W 070° 29.640') who unlocked that one for me. He said the road behind is no private property, but it's always locked. After another gate (S 33° 37.141', W 070° 29.927'), with a hole on the right to climb climb through, this road connects back to the official route.
There is plenty of water on the B alternet uphill. Almost at the top it tastes a bit like cow shit after filtering. There is a lot of OK water at the bottom of the downhill and quite a few tourists especially on weekends.
- 2019-Nov-17 to 2019-Nov-18 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Matus & Anna
We walked GPT01 in 2 days, including one nero day. We used uber to get to the trail, hope your driver won't be stupid enough to take shortcuts through slums :). There is a gate on the beginning of trail, after a "discussion" (we don't speak spanish) they let us go through. Climb was really hot, make sure you take enough water from the last source on the way up. There is water on the other side, but first marked water source didn't look the best. There is a river cutting a trail a bit down from that point. We stayed in a campsite on the begining of next section which was nice. They have really sticky ferral dogs there which we had a real problem to chase to not hike with us.
- 2019-Nov-11 to 2019-Nov-13 / 3 days / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo
It took us 3 days as we started late in Santiago and arrived early in Melocoton. As it's still low season everything is shut down in Melocoton so we took the bus (which runs every 30 minutes) to San Alfonso, where we found nice cabañas and three small resupply tiendas.
We went to Puente Alto and then Pirque by Uber. The drivers know where the protests take place and avoid those areas or areas which got recently destroyed.
- 2019-Oct-27 / Alert / Jan Dudeck
The Metro line 4 to Puente Alto is currently out of operation due to vandalism during the current protests. Check online for current the status and delete this alert once metro operation to Puente Alto resumes.
Season 2018/19
- 2018-Dec-16 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin Lizondo
Carry plenty of water on this section as water sources might dry out in early summer after all snow has molten.
Puente Alto is not particular safe area of Santiago, so residents recommend not walking very early in the morning or at night through this outskirt of Santiago.
Old entrance of regular route is closed by gate (S33° 37.320' W70° 32.182'). Better start from the public minor road and you won't have any problem (S33° 36.768' W70° 30.033'). The GPT Track File 2019 incorporates this change so follow the Regular Route if you use the current update.
Carry as much water as possible just before ascending to the pass (S33° 38.394' W70° 27.191'). There won't be water until 14 km further, and it's not of good quality (S33° 41.000' W70° 23.100').
Instead of deviating to El Melocotón, you can spend the night in Reserva Coyanco (camping, food, services), from where GPT02 starts. Just turn right at S33° 40.813' W70° 20.812'.
- 2018-Dec-15 to 1018-Dec-16 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Austin Davis
http://notabadplacetopee.com/gpt01/
Season 2017/18
Season 2016/17
- 2017-Feb / Hiking / NOBO / GPT02 & GPT01 Option 1 Rio Clarillo / Bethany Hughes, Lauren Reed
- 2017-Jan / Hiking / SOBO / GPT01 Option 1 Rio Clarillo & GPT02 / Gerald Klamer
http://geraldtrekkt.blogspot.com/2017/04/greater-patagonian-trail-1-santiago-coya.html
Resupply and Accommodation
Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns
Resupply and Accommodation along the Route
Transport to and from Route
Start Regular Route: Santiago, Metro Station Puente Alto
Plaza De Puente Alto is an underground metro station and the southern terminal station of Line 4 of the Santiago Metro network. Underground trains run frequently between 6 am in the morning and 11 pm in the evening.
Calculate 1 hour from the city centre to the terminal station Puente Alto.
From Plaza De Puente Alto buses leave to most towns and villages in the Maipo valley and the surrounding area. (2019)
If you don't want to walk the first 13KM of the regular route on the road then get bus MB73 from Puente Alto.
Finish Regular Route: El Melocoton
See also GPT02
From Plaza De Puente Alto the following bus gets you to El Melocoton in the Maipo valley: Bus MB-72B
Buses are frequent and calculate a bit over 1 hour for the bus ride. (2019)
Start or Finish Option 1 (Rio Clarillo): Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo
From Plaza De Puente Alto the following buses get you close to Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo:
- Bus 978 towards Rio Clarillo (this is the best option, gets you the closest to the entrance to the reserve)
- Bus MB-74 towards El Principal De Pirque (last stop is here: 33.7290444S, 70.5371567W)
- Bus MB-80 towards El Principal De Pirque
Buses are frequent and calculate 1 hour for the bus ride. (2019)
Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues
Regular Route
No permit or entry fees apply to the regular route but a high gate was build in 2021. If the the gate at waypoint "X, Gate {01} [11.2/787]" is locked, continue 2.1 km on the main road and take Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio).
Option 1 (Rio Clarillo)
Access into Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo is controlled by CONAF at the main entrance near Pirque. The park is intended for daytime visits only and does not provide camp grounds. Cooking inside the park is strictly banned including with camping stoves. A maximum of 800 persons are permitted entry on one day. CONAF park rangers might not permit a southbound traverse and all visitors are probably required to leave the park in the evening at the main gate. The entrance fee is 11,500 CLP (2022) for foreign nationals and 2000 to 4000 CLP for Chileans. The tickets needs to be bought online in advance and there is not cell coverage at the entrance to the reserve.
A northbound traverse is probably free of charge. (2019)
Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio)
No permit or entry fees apply to Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio). No right-of-way conflicts reported yet. If the gate issue on the RR persists to cause problems and Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio) is recommended by more hikers then Option 2 may become the new Regular Route.
Links to other Resources
Retired Section Article GPT01 - Cerro Purgatorio
Regular Route
Wikiexplora: San Juan de Pirque - El Toyo
Option 1 (Rio Clarillo)
Wikiexplora: Río Clarillo
National Park: http://www.conaf.cl/parques/reserva-nacional-rio-clarillo/
Images
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